The Mystery of Little-Under-Standing
The Chuckle Brothers help to catch a jewel thief on Christmas Eve 1929. Plot It's Christmas Eve 1929; on their way to Granny Chuckle's charades party the Chuckle Brothers are stranded at Little-Under-Standing and end up at Halle Bere Hall, once owned by Paul's friend Julian, but now occupied by his nephew Ralf. There is a jewel thief known as the White Glove on the loose and the brothers pose as female musicians to stake out Chives the butler, whom they believe to the burglar. However he is an undercover detective who joins forces with them to expose the real White glove. On their way to the house, Paul and Barry meet Molly after she drops her necklace. They later part ways as they arrive at the house and they are greeted by the butler Chives who goes to inform the houseowner, Rafe, of their presence (however Barry swiftly informs him that they haven't brought any presents). Rafe demands they are thrown out of the house and after refusing to leave, they are given the 'old heave-ho'. After being chucked out for a second time, Paul and Barry meet Molly outside who it is revealed is playing music at the house tonight, however she doesn't have the rest of her band and, in order to get back inside, Paul and Barry pose as her sisters Holly and Dolly. There is then yet another arrival as the residents of the house witness a plane flying low to the house before crashing in the field. Gertie Gigglesworth walks through the door and introduces herself as a pilot and is honoured when welcomed to stay for tonight's party. However, when she goes to 'freshen up', Gertie begins searching through Molly's suitcase for something, but is caught in the act by Chives. He attempts to give her the 'old heave-ho' but he is outmanoeuvered by her and thrown outside. When Molly enters the room, Gertie strips off into her party gown for the night and reveals her real identity to Molly. That night, Rafe holds a Christmas dinner party to which he invites the whole village, who, in turns out, are only a small minority and Paul and Barry, disguised as Molly's sisters Holly and Dolly, hatch a plan to catch the thief. Once everyone has left, Molly drops her priceless necklace and Dolly (Paul) puts its on the table until the morning hoping to catch the White Glove during the night. Firstly, they catch Gertie putting the necklace into the safe, however Paul and Barry retrieve it again to reset the trap. The second time around, Chives the butler catches Paul and Barry out of their disguises and reveals his real identity. Meanwhile, Rafe steals the necklace and puts it inside his teddy to make the others unaware of his robbery. However, Barry catches him in the act and retrieves the teddy from behind the Christmas Tree and pulls the necklace out of its back. With that Rafe's impostor is arrested. Suddenly, the Chuckles and Chives hear Molly scream from upstairs and enter her bedroom where she has discovered the real Rafe tied up in the closet. They untie him and it is revealed that Molly and Rafe know each other. Downstairs, on Christmas morning, Molly and Rafe announce their engagement, Chives reveals his identity as a Chief Inspector from Scotland Yard and Gertie unveils her guise as an Inspector from the Chicago Detective Agency sent to England by Molly's father to bring her home safely. With the mystery solved, Paul and Barry leave for their original destination: Granny Chuckle's Christmas Charade Party. Over the end credits, Barry plays his own game, playing out Sleeping Beauty and Sleeping Beauty 2 to which he is outraged by Paul's ability to guess so easily. Trivia * This is the first episode and only episode in which the music isn't composed by original composer Dave Cooke. Instead it was composed by Michael J McEvoy - noted by the different music styles used during the episode, however Dave Cooke was given credit for composing the original theme. Cooke said he and the Chuckle Brothers were both confused and disappointed that Dave wasn't asked to compose for this episode, as it ruined his perfect run of scoring all 292 episodes. * The opening theme is a alternative rendition of the ChuckleVision theme tune, changed to sound more Christmassy. * The closing theme is a rendition of 'I Saw Three Ships' - a popular Christmas carol - which ends with an altered rendition of the ChuckleVision theme tune. * The episode is the longest in the show's history - at the extended time of 30 minutes. * The opening titles have been edited differently to fit with the show's altered theme tune. The sequence of Paul picking up the fallen letters is cut out, however the clips above continue as they do in the unaltered title sequence. And instead transitioning through barn doors to start the episode, the episode's first scene starts out as a clip in the right hand box for a few seconds before zooming in towards the screen - the most sophisticated transition used in the show's long history. * Final episode written by Martin Hughes. Watch the episode below! Category:Episodes Category:Series 20 Category:Christmas Specials Category:Episodes Written By Martin Hughes Category:Episodes with Guest Appearances